Sunday, November 20, 2011

Thanksgiving is a holiday I joyfully embraced coming to live in the USA. In the 60’s/ 70’s we alternated spending Thanksgiving with two families celebrating in each others homes. We would pack up the kids and drive to Long Island our friends would come to Iowa or Connecticut respectively.

1974 Thanksgiving is sort of a blur. We had moved to Bethany and besides cooking our Thanksgiving meal I also cooked some side dishes for clients. We still were not quite settled.

1975 was a very sad Thanksgiving. We all struggled with Marc’s illness (cancer) and though we all were hopeful it would stay in remission, it was not to be. Marc’s Birthday is November 20th and I decided to do a very special romantic dinner just for the two of us. It was the last such dinner we had.

This Thanksgiving I call SonomaCounty home. Actually for the last 13 years I have entertained my family and a neighbor who has no family close by for a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner. Not all my children and family can be here every Thanksgiving but the consistent ones are Heidi, Rodmond and Neal when he lives in town such as now. Walter and family live in BoiseIdaho. No visit this year. Steven and family reside in England. He and his family visit about every 3 to 4 years. Paul’s family lives in Phoenix and Connecticut and Paul himself lives in LA.

I am grateful to have family that cares and loves their Mom. I am also fortunate to have a home in beautiful SonomaCounty. Semi retiring here almost 14 years ago with the help of my son Rod was a smart move on my part.

I have made good friends and a very special friend named Josie. I also worked during my first few years here. Now I take on a spotter project or write a training manual for a Hotel Restaurant’s when needed.

This Thanksgiving let us all be grateful for our families and friends and neighbors. Pray for peace in the world and prosperity for all.

It wouldn’t do without a recipe for Thanksgiving from my portfolio. This is my maternal Grandmothers red cabbage recipe:

Red Cabbage

4 quarts water

1 large red cabbage or 2 small ones

1 apple

1 onion

2 strips of bacon (fat from a goose, duck or chicken is even better)

Red wine Vinegar to taste

Sat and Pepper to taste

Sugar to taste

Remove outer leaves from cabbage and remove the core. Chop cabbage into medium to small pieces. Rinse; in a large pot put the water the cabbage, apple and onion with salt and pepper and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer about 30 minutes. Drain, set aside. In the same pot fry the bacon or melt down the duck/chicken fat on medium high heat. Remove the bacon strips. Set aside; now add the cabbage to the fat and stir for about 5 minutes of and on. Add some vinegar and sugar, (start with ¼ cup vinegar and 4 tablespoons of sugar). Stir and taste after a few minutes off cooking. Increase the vinegar and sugar to your taste; simmer cabbage for about 10 more minutes.

Makes 10 to 12 servings

Here is our Thanksgiving Menu, it has not changed except for few updates this year, this is one holiday when I do follow everyone’s tradition. The family expect it, ha, ha.

About Me

I inherited the dining bug from my father, who ran successful dinner clubs in Germany, my native country. My forty plus years of experience in the food service industry include experience as chef, restaurant and private club general manager, and director of food & beverage for hotels. My first major success as a food service professional came with the establishment and the subsequent phenomenal popularity of Annie’s Firehouse Soup Kitchen Restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut.
Other establishments I have worked with include The Graduate Club, in New Haven, Connecticut; the Four Seasons Hotel, Le Premier Restaurant, & Radisson Plaza Hotel, Newport Beach, Dream Inn Hotel, Santa Cruz, Los Gatos Lodge, Los Gatos, Felix & Louis, Healdsburg, all in California; Village Latch Inn, South Hampton, New York; and the Radisson Hotel in Osprey, Florida.
Corporate clients include Conde Nast, Yale University, and Irvine Ranch Farmer’s Market among many others.
Television credits include cooking demonstrations in New Haven, Connecticut and New York City. I have also been featured in the food section of many papers.